Older Americans still vacationing, reports travel site

The economic downturn may not have hit some senior citizens who are still jetting to exotic locales as they continue to travel as part of retirement living, according to one travel booking website.

Grand Circle Travel Forums reported that $20 million in travel packages were booked through its forums in the first quarter of 2009, and some of the most popular trips noted were river tours near the Black Sea, a trip to Egypt and the Nile River, as well as trips exploring India and Vietnam.

"There's such high demand among older travelers to connect with each other and to talk with those of us who put their trips together," said CEO Vince Cook.

"For them, travel is a bright spot during a challenging time. If they can get a good deal, not much is going to stop them from packing their bags and heading out."

Forums hosted in dozens of American cities to highlight the trips are bringing out older Americans and the company says it is on pace to have its 2009 attendance reach 48,000, or 8,000 more than last year.